HOMEWORK for Friday 12th June

Overview of Films Created.

We were all set a task to create a short film that showed a ‘tour’ type video of St Marks School. Throughout the whole of this task I learnt what camera techniques worked well and what I would choose to use within another task. Also after watching all of the videos each group had created I discovered which mise en scene works best in a film like this one. For example the character choices, the setting and the types of diagetic sounds (e.g. - music in the common room of sixth form).

The first film we watched was the one my group and I took part in. We decided to create a film which was in the style of a wildlife documentary describing a new student as ‘the new cub’ and the character leading him around the school as the ‘alpha male’ as he knew what to do around the school whereas the new student didn’t. I thought this was a good way of showing how the school looks after its new students and showed the main parts around the school, and also included a bit of comedy.
Our film included some good shots cameras shots which included canted angle shot, close ups, high and low angle shots. This was so the school and characters were captured at different angles.
However there were some points which needed improvement. One of the main bad points the film had was that the cameras shots/ edits were cut too short and didn’t fit neatly together. This distracted the audience and should have been edited better. Another point was the diagetic sound in the common room; this also distracted the audience as you could not hear the characters dialogue clearly, this could have been improved by turning off the radio which was playing at the time and making sure no one else talked in the room we was filming in.
A third point which could have been improved not only on our film but also on the other two we watched, was that some of the shots were rather ‘wobbly’. To make the shot clearer and more professional would be to make use of a tripod for the camera to stand on. I am going to take this into consideration when next filming. This will then make it clearer for the audience to watch.

The second group’s film also had a good way of showing the audience around the school showing all of the major good points. They also portrayed the film as comedy type clips to connect with the target audience of teenagers. The main character used was also confident and connected with the audience well which is a main factor.
However like the other films some angles didn’t work well within the film, for example one shot was a canted shot when the characters were just walking along outside. I don’t think this shot worked well as it looked like it was just slotted in to add another camera angle. The filming was also a bit wobbly in places too like our film; this could be overcome using a tripod too.
Another bad point within this film was that there were rapid shots/ quick cuts but then long pauses. The long pauses could conclude to the audience getting bored and not listening to the film, so it needs to keep flowing to keep the attention of the audience.

The third and final film had a different sort of story; this storyline was ‘a day in the life’ of a sixth former. There were a few positive points such as a range of camera shots, but overall I think there were more bad points about this short film.
The main point was that they did not use the camera properly as the film kept cutting to other films which were also recorded on the camera by other people previously. This took the story away and got confusing as the audience did not know what was going on. Also at one point the person shooting the clip didn’t realise they were recording and was talking, this made the shot look unprofessional and was therefore one of the major bad points.
A third point was the mise en scene. In some clips the setting looked messy, such as tables wonky in the wrong places or work over the floor. Also, when filming outside the wind and other cars made it difficult for the audience to hear the dialogue.

To conclude this task we was set I have tried out and discovered the camera shots which work well together and which don’t, how long the shot should be held for before the audience get bored an to not make the cuts of the shots too quick as it doesn't work well together.
I have also found out how to improve shots and angles aswell, whether it be using a tripod or making sure the angles fit the shot well otherwise it looks wrong and out of place.
Making sure the mise en scene is as best as it can be is also a main factor because this draws the audience in, if the scene/ setting doesn’t look clean and professional the audience will not like it and will therefore be a negative factor. I will use these points in future media work when filming as this has been a big learning curve and will definitely help improve my work dramatically.